Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman SHAVONDA E. SUMTER
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman ARTHUR BARCLAY
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblyman JAMEL C. HOLLEY
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman SHEILA Y. OLIVER
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Assemblyman JERRY GREEN
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Tucker and Watson
SYNOPSIS
Provides immediate eligibility for participation in interscholastic athletics for certain transfer students.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning participation in Statewide interscholastic sports programs and supplementing chapter 11 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association shall establish a transfer policy that provides that a student who transfers from one secondary school to another is immediately eligible to try out for, and participate on, an interscholastic sports team or squad at the student’s new school of attendance if it is the first time that the student is transferring from one secondary school to another.
For any subsequent transfer, a student shall be immediately eligible to try out for, and participate on, an interscholastic sports team or squad at the student’s new school of attendance if any of the following conditions are met:
a. the student did not participate on the sports team or squad at the varsity level at the school of attendance immediately preceding the transfer;
b. the student transfers to a school located in the State immediately following enrollment in a school located out-of-State or in another country;
c. the student transfers to a public school immediately following enrollment in a nonpublic school due to the financial hardship of the student’s parent or guardian that results in the inability to afford the costs associated with enrollment in the nonpublic school;
d. the student transfers due to a change in the residence of his parent or guardian as a result of a job relocation of the parent or guardian; or
e. the student transfers due to the student’s removal from the school he attended immediately preceding the transfer.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill stipulates that the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) must establish a transfer policy that provides that a student who transfers from one secondary school to another is immediately eligible to try out for, and participate on, an interscholastic sports team or squad at the student’s new school of attendance if it is the first time that the student is transferring from one secondary school to another. After any subsequent transfer, the student will be immediately eligible if any of the following conditions are met:
· the student did not participate on the sports team or squad at the varsity level at the school of attendance immediately preceding the transfer;
· the student transfers to a school located in the State immediately following enrollment in a school located out-of-State or in another country;
· the student transfers to a public school immediately following enrollment in a nonpublic school due to the financial hardship of the student’s parent or guardian that results in the inability to afford the costs associated with enrollment in the nonpublic school;
· the student transfers due to a change in the residence of his parent or guardian as a result of a job relocation of the parent or guardian; or
· the student transfers due to the student’s removal from the school of attendance immediately preceding the transfer.
Prior to February 2017, the NJSIAA allowed students who transferred from one secondary school to another because of a bona fide change of residence to be immediately eligible to participate on an interscholastic sports team or squad at the student’s new school of attendance. Students without a bona fide change of residence were required to wait 30 days or one-half of the maximum number of games in the sport, whichever was less, before becoming eligible to participate on an interscholastic sports team or squad in the new school of attendance. However, in February 2017, the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee changed the rule so that all students, regardless of whether they have a bona fide change of residence or not, will be subjected to the 30-day wait period. This bill intends to lessen the impact of the NJSIAA’s rule change to accommodate students who transfer under certain circumstances.